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Avril Lavigne
Avril Ramona Lavigne (born September 27, 1984) is a Canadian singer and songwriter. She was one of the most popular new pop music artists of 2002, when she released her first album, and is well-known for her "skater" persona. Born in Napanee, Ontario to conservative parents, Lavigne grew up singing country music and in a church choir and taught herself guitar. She was discovered by her first professional manager while singing country covers at a Chapters bookstore in Kingston, Ontario. By the age of 16, she was signed by Arista Records head L.A. Reid, and she subsequently moved to New York City to work on her first album. ''Let Go'' - career breakthrough Apparently, early attempts to co-write songs for her failed to meet her approval, and she eventually moved to Los Angeles, California and co-wrote her album with Clif Magness and a songwriting team called "The Matrix", whose previous work included songs for Sheena Easton and Christina Aguilera. Her first album, Let Go, was released by Arista on June 4, 2002, and was certified "Quadruple Platinum" less than six months later by the Recording Industry Association of America. She was named "Best New Artist" at the 2002 MTV Video Music Awards and at the 2003 Juno Awards, where she led all musicians with six nominations, winning four Junos. She also has been nominated for eight Grammy Awards but has not won any to date. As of June 2004, Let Go had sold 14 million albums and reached the number one spot in the UK, Australia and Canada and #2 in the US. Let Go spawned 5 hit singles in various parts of the world: * "Complicated" went to #1 on the US adult charts and in Australia while reaching #2 on the Billboard Hot 100; * "Sk8er Boi" (txt for Skater Boy) went top 10 in the US and Australia and top 30 in Canada; * "I'm With You" reached #1 on the US and world adult charts (based on the US, UK, Canada, Germany, France and Australia) Taiwan and Canada and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100; * "Losing Grip" reached #1 in Canada, #10 Taiwan, #20 Chile and top 50 on a composite European chart; and * "Mobile" reached the top ten in Taiwan and went top 40 in New Zealand. Weird Al Yankovic did a parody of "Complicated" on his Poodle Hat album - a sure sign of her impact on popular culture. The media has often compared her to Alanis Morissette, though she has been criticized for not being as strong a lyricist as Morissette at the same age. She has also often been compared with singers Vanessa Carlton and Michelle Branch, who emerged at about the same time and were popularly credited, with Lavigne, as part of a trend towards more earnestness and genuine creativity in an often vacuous and pre-fabricated teen pop music market. While her marketing has been every bit as sophisticated as, for instance, that of Britney Spears and her competitors, a profile in the Washington Post found that in the flesh, her personality reflected the marketing and found her, if anything, something of a wide-eyed innocent, citing the fact that she was intending to purchase her first Ramones CD. In another interview, she listed her current listening tastes as including Blink 182, Sum 41, and System of a Down. Lavigne had a close friendship with Deryck Whibley of Sum 41 and hired a former member of that band Mark Spicoluk as a member of her backing band. She describes her first album as a pop album with "a couple of rock songs on it," and has indicated a desire to write more rock-oriented songs in the future. ''Under My Skin'' Lavigne wrote most of her second album, Under My Skin, with Canadian singer-songwriter Chantal Kreviazuk. She also co-wrote one track, "Nobody's Home", with Ben Moody, formerly of Evanescence, and the rest with her guitarist Evan Taubenfeld. Lavigne used three producers for Under My Skin, notably: * Butch Walker of Marvelous 3; * Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace (also Kreviazuk's husband); and * Don Gilmore, who has produced Good Charlotte and Linkin Park. Under My Skin was released on May 25, 2004 and went to #1 around the world, notably in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia and on the Billboard Internet charts. The first single, "Don't Tell Me", was released early, and as at June 2004, has gone to #1 in Argentina, top 5 in the UK and Canada, and top 10 in Australia, Brazil and a European composite chart. The second single, "My Happy Ending", has reached #9 on the Billboard Hot 100, making it her third biggest hit as of late. Personal life and trivia Her "skater chick" fashion style was one of the most imitated of 2002. In March 2004, she became involved in a celebrity feud with Hilary Duff: Duff reportedly criticized Lavigne after she apparently got mad at her fans for dressing like her. Duff called her "mean-spirited" and said, "You should be happy that these people like you and look up to you." During an interview for a Boston radio station, Lavigne then said that Duff was a "mommy's girl" and a "goody two-shoes." She then said to Duff (who was not present during that interview), "You can go screw yourself". Reportedly, Lavigne also said about Duff, "I'm sure she's really nice and sweet. I'm sure she's all smiles." During that same interview, she spotted a picture of herself and ripped it up, allegedly saying "I hate that (bleeping) photo!" All this happened while on air. According to Lavigne, she had permission to take the picture down - station personnel encouraged her to take it down. Avril Lavigne has made the list of FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2003 and the FHM 100 Sexiest Women in the World 2004. It was reported in September 2004 that she was engaged to Deryck Whibley of Sum 41, but this was subsequently denied by Sum 41's management. Releases *''Let Go'' (2002) *"Complicated" - Single (September 23, 2002) BMG International **"Complicated" (the Matrix Mix) **"I Don't Give" **"Why" *"Sk8er Boi" - Single (2002) *"I'm With You" - Single (March 3, 2003) BMG **"I'm With You" (Radio Edit) **"I'm With You" (Live Version) **"Unwanted" (Live Version) **"I Am With You" (Video) *"Losing Grip" - Single (May 5, 2003) BMG International **"Losing Grip" (Album Version) **"I'm With You" (Live) **"Unwanted" (Live) **"Losing Grip" (Dub) *"Don't Tell Me" - Single (April 19, 2004) BMG International **"Don't Tell Me" (Album Version) **"Don't Tell Me" (Live Acoustic Version) **"Take Me Away" (Album Version) *''Under My Skin'' - (2004) External links * Official Site * Town of Greater Napanee * "Gamma Gamma Hey:" Village Voice review of Lavigne, Carlton and Branch's 2002 albums by Marc Weisblott * Avril Lavigne MTV page * All Music Guide Avril Lavigne Lavigne, Avril Lavigne, Avril Lavigne, Avril